Then Janey took hold of a loop attached to the lamb, and the baby smiled at the “Mary Had a Little Lamb” tune.

“That’s adorable, Janey,” Maddie said. “Where did you get it?”

“My friend owns Abby’s Attic.”

“Oh, I love that store!”

Mac emerged from the bathroom wearing a towel around his waist. “Forgot clothes,” he said with a sheepish grin. “Hey, Janey.”

His sister shielded her eyes. “Eww, put something on, will you?” To Maddie, she said, “See what I grew up with? It was like living in a freaking locker room.”

Maddie’s gaze roamed over Mac’s muscular physique. “Mmm,” she said, licking her lips. “Must’ve been a terrible hardship.”

Gripping a handful of clean clothes, Mac flashed her that irrepressible grin and went back into the bathroom to get dressed.

“Damn,” Janey said, laughing. “You two have a bad case of it, huh?”

“So it seems.” Maddie sighed. “I’m probably cruising for disaster, but I can’t seem to help myself.”

“He’s the best, Maddie. And I’m not just saying that because he’s my big brother.”

“So you wouldn’t mind if we, you know. . .”

“I might’ve, before I got to know you, but now it seems you’re just what he needs.”

Touched, Maddie looked at Mac’s sister with new appreciation. “Too bad your mother doesn’t think so.”

“Don’t let her get to you. We just ignore her when she gets unreasonable.”

Maddie smiled. For the second time that week, she felt like she might be making a new girlfriend, and both of them were thanks to Mac.

“Are you ladies talking about me?” Mac asked when he emerged from the bathroom wearing a navy blue polo shirt and khaki cargo shorts.

“Get over yourself,” his sister said. “We have much better things to talk about than you.”

Mac stuck his tongue out at her and reached for the baby. “I need a minute with my little buddy before we go.” He swung him around in circles that had the baby squealing with delight.

“Don’t get him all fired up for Janey,” Maddie said. “While they’re playing, let me show you where everything is.”

“Sounds good.”

As they were leaving a few minutes later, Thomas began to cry.

Mac put his arm around Maddie on the way down the stairs. “He’ll be fine.”

“What if he isn’t? What if he gives her a hard time all night?”

“We’ll call and check in a little while. If it’s not going well, we’ll come home.”

Maddie looked up at him. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not.” He kissed her softly. “Whatever it takes to make sure you have a good time.” He reached for the denim jacket he’d told her to bring and draped it around her shoulders. “You’ll need that.” Taking her hand, he led her to the bike and reached for the helmet.